1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to an image acquiring method. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image acquiring method applied in the case where there is a difference in color temperature between ambient light illuminating a subject to be photographed using external illumination such as stroboscopic light and daylight. The present invention also relates to an image acquiring apparatus for implementing the image acquiring method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, external illumination such as stroboscopic light is commonly used when a subject to be photographed using a camera for silver salt films or a digital camera is dark. The stroboscopic light is usually so-called white light. Then, when a film of a daylight type is used or when the white balance of a digital camera is set at daylight, satisfactory color reproduction is obtained without especially carrying out the color correction.
In recent years, the high sensitivity of a silver salt film or a digital camera has been improved, and, in the case where the stroboscopic photographing is carried out in a room, even in the background which the stroboscopic light does not reach, if there is the slight brightness therein, the background is recorded as an image without becoming solid black.
However, when stroboscopic photographing is carried out in a room using stroboscopic light whose kind is different from that of indoor illumination, there is encountered a problem in that the colors of the obtained image are reproduced so as to differ depending on the part in the image so that the image comes out unnatural.
For example, when a subject is photographed in a room illuminated by a tungsten lamp using stroboscopic light, an area which the stroboscopic light reaches is illuminated by the white light, while an area which the stroboscopic light does not reach is illuminated by tungsten light.
In general, the image photographed on a color negative film is subjected to the color correction when being printed, whereby even in the case where the illumination is not the white light, that image can be subjected to the color correction so as to be capable of obtaining satisfactory color reproduction. However, if the color of the illumination light differs depending on the part in the image as in the case described above, any of the colors is selected for carrying out the correction. Since the finally obtained image differs in color depending on the part therein, it comes out very unnatural in a visual sense.
After all, in such a case, it is unavoidable that the finally obtained image becomes the image having the unnatural colors. This is also the case with the white balance correction of a digital camera.